The Lost Art Of Waiting On The Lord (Part 3)

When we talk about waiting on the Lord, there is a passage that comes automatically to our minds - Isaiah 40.31…

But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Did you know that the word ‘wait’ here has as its root, a word that means to bind together by twisting together?  In fact, the Hebrew word here - ‘qavah’ is the most common word that is translated ‘wait’ in the OT.  It has the idea of twisting strands of a rope together, to make it stronger.  Isn’t that what waiting on the Lord really means?  We are so bound up in God and His purpose and plan that the things of the world fade away.  In fact, all the words in the OT translated ‘wait’ has the focus on our daily walk and waiting on the Lord and trusting Him in the pressures of daily life.

And let's admit it, we all go through seasons in our lives that threaten to drag us down, to hold us back, to discourage us from waiting upon the Lord, from trusting Him.  It is in these very moments that we NEED to be bound up in Him!  Rather than run away, we need to run to the Lord to receive the strength to meet these circumstances head on (like the eagle turning into the wind - we'll look at that next time).  I love what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 4.10-12 -

For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone? 
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

We pastors often use this passage in wedding ceremonies and vows, but it applies to every aspect of life.  When life is tough, when we are ready to fall down from weariness, when our enemy has battered us down, when all around us are storms and it's cold and dark, we need to be like that threefold cord - twisted together with the Lord for strength.

Can God use other believers to encourage us and lift us up?  Absolutely!  But it is a THREEfold cord that is not quickly broken.  Me, you and the Lord.  Or you, a bro / sis and the Lord.  The point is we need to be bound up in the Lord, twisted together with Him - that is the idea of waiting on the Lord.  We wait on Him for strength for daily life, not just in emergencies.  So are we waiting on the Lord?  Are we bound up in Him?